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French Guiana
|GDP_per_capita = 11,690 |GDP_cap_ref = |GDP_cap_year = 2006 |Website = cr-guyane.fr |leader_title = |leader = Antoine Karam |leader_party = PSG |ruling_party1 = |ruling_party2 = |departments = none |time_zone = UTC-3 |NUTS = FR9 |iso region = }} French Guiana ( , officially ) is an overseas department (French: département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other DOMs, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic. Like metropolitan France, its currency is the euro. The prefecture is Cayenne. History French Guiana was originally inhabited by a number of indigenous American people. It was settled by the French during the 17th century. Its infamous Île du Diable (Devil's Island) was the site of penal settlements from 1852 until 1951. A border dispute with Brazil arose in the late nineteenth century over a vast area of jungle, leading to the short-lived pro-French independent state of Counani in the disputed territory and some fighting between settlers, before the dispute was resolved largely in favour of Brazil by the arbitration of the Swiss government. In 1946, French Guiana became an overseas department of France. The 1970s saw the settlement of Hmong refugees from Laos. A movement for increased autonomy from France gained some momentum in the 1970s and 1980s. Economy launched from the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou, on 10 August 1992.]] French Guiana is heavily dependent on France for subsidies, trade, and goods. The main industries are fishing (accounting for three-quarters of foreign exports), gold mining and timber. In addition, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou accounts for 25% of the GDP and employs about 1700 people. There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast — sugar and bananas are two of the main cash crops grown. Tourism, especially eco-tourism, is growing. Unemployment is a major problem, running at about 20% to 30%. In 2006 the GDP per capita of French Guiana at market exchange rates, not at PPP, was €13,800 (US$17,380), which was 48% of Metropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year. Demographics French Guiana's population of 221,500 (January 2008 est.), most of whom live along the coast, is very ethnically diverse. At the 1999 census, 54.4% of the inhabitants of French Guiana were born in French Guiana, 11.8% were born in Metropolitan France, 5.2% were born in the French Caribbean départements (Guadeloupe and Martinique), and 28.6% were born in foreign countries (primarily Brazil, Suriname, and Haiti). Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large numbers of immigrants (about 20,000). Guianese Creoles (people of primarily African heritage mixed with some French ancestry) are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large Haitian community is included as well. Generally the Creole population is judged at about 60% to 70% of the total population with Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) and 30% to 50% without. Roughly 14% are Europeans, the vast majority of whom are French. The main Asian communities are the Hmong from Laos (1.5%) and Chinese (3.2%, primarily from Hong Kong and Zhejiang province). There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Saint Lucia as well as Dominica. The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons (also called Bush Negroes) and Amerindians. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the Paramacca, Aucan (both of whom also live in Suriname) and the Boni (Aluku). The main Amerindian groups (forming about 3%-4% of the population) are the Arawak, Carib, Emerillon, Galibi (now called the Kaliña), Palikour, Wayampi and Wayana. As of late 1990s there was evidence of uncontacted group of Wayampi. The most practised religion in this region is Roman Catholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian people maintain their own religions. The Hmong people are also mainly Catholic owing to the influence of Catholic missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana. The Bahá'í Religion is also present. Politics French Guiana, as part of France, is part of the European Union, the largest part in an area outside Europe, with one of the longest EU external boundaries. Along with the Spanish enclaves in Africa of Ceuta and Melilla, it is one of only three European Union territories outside Europe that is not an island. Its head of state is the President of the French Republic, who appoints a Prefect (resident at the Prefecture building in Cayenne) as his representative. There are two legislative bodies: the 19-member General Council and the 34-member Regional Council, both elected. French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly, one representing the commune (municipality) of Cayenne and the commune of Macouria, and the other representing the rest of French Guiana. This latter constituency is the largest in the French Republic by land area. French Guiana also sends one senator to the French Senate. French Guiana has traditionally been conservative, though the socialist party has been increasingly successful in recent years. Though many would like to see more autonomy for the region, support for complete independence is very low. A chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors from Brazil and Suriname. The border between the department and Suriname is formed by the Maroni River, which flows through rain forest and is difficult for the Gendarmerie and the French Foreign Legion to patrol. The border line with Suriname is disputed. Transport ]] French Guiana's main international airport is Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport, located in the commune of Matoury, a southern suburb of Cayenne. There are three flights a day to Paris (Orly Airport), served by Air France, Air Caraïbes and CorsairFly. The flight time from Cayenne to Paris is 8 hours and 25 minutes, and from Paris to Cayenne it is 9 hours and 10 minutes. There are also flights to Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Port-au-Prince, Miami, Macapá, Belém, and Fortaleza. French Guiana's main seaport is the port of Dégrad des Cannes, located on the estuary of the Mahury River, in the commune of Remire-Montjoly, a south-eastern suburb of Cayenne. Almost all of French Guiana's imports and exports pass through the port of Dégrad des Cannes. Built in 1969, it replaced the old harbour of Cayenne which was congested and couldn't cope with modern traffic. An asphalted road from Régina to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock (a town by the Brazilian border) was opened in 2004, completing the road from Cayenne to the Brazilian border. It is now possible to drive on a fully paved road from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the Surinamese border to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock on the Brazilian border. Following an international treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, a bridge over the Oyapock River (marking the border with Brazil) is currently being built and is due to open in 2010. This bridge will be the first land crossing ever opened between France and Brazil, and indeed between French Guiana and the rest of the world (there exists no other bridge crossing the Oyapock River, and no bridge crossing the Maroni River marking the border with Suriname - there is a ferry crossing to Albina, Suriname.). When the bridge is opened, it will be possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne to Macapá, the capital of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Notable natives and residents * Henri Charrière, escaped French convict, imprisoned in and around French Guiana from 1933 to 1941 * Léon Damas, Francophone poet widely notated for his influence on the literary movement known as la négritude * Jean-Claude Darcheville, football striker who joined Rangers from FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer of 2007 * Marc-Antoine Fortuné, football striker who joined AS Nancy in the winter of 2006 and is currently on loan at West Bromwich Albion * Bernard Lama, former French international football player * Florent Malouda, French international football player who plays for Chelsea Football Club * Malia Metella, French swimmer, SC European Championships 2004: 1st 100m free * Cyrille Regis, former West Bromwich Albion and England player * Henri Salvador, famous singer, one of the inspiration sources for the Bossa nova movement * Christiane Taubira, politician of Parti Radical de Gauche (France) See also Notes References * France's Overseas Frontier : Départements et territoires d'outre-mer Robert Aldrich and John Connell. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-03036-6 * Dry guillotine: Fifteen years among the living dead René Belbenoit, 1938, Reprint: Berkley (1975). ISBN 0-425-02950-6 * Hell on Trial René Belbenoit, 1940, Translated from the Original French Manuscript by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 194 p. Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971 *''Papillon'' Henri Charrière Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. ISBN 0-246-63987-3 (hbk); Perennial, 2001. ISBN 0-06-093479-4 (sbk) * Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana Peter Redfield. ISBN 0-520-21985-6 External links *Conseil régional de Guyane Official website *Préfecture de Guyane Official website * * * *Consular Information Sheet from the United States Department of State *Ethnologue French Guiana page *Silvolab Guyanae - scientific interest group in French Guiana *Article on separatism in French Guiana *About.com French Guiana travel site *Status of Forests in French Guiana *Officials reports, thesis, scientific papers about French Guiana (en|fr) *The IRD's database AUBLET2 stores information about botanical specimens collected in the Guianas, mainly in French Guiana *Training legionnaires to fight in French Guiana Category:French Guiana Category:Outermost regions of the European Union Guiana, French Category:Overseas departments, collectivities and territories of France Category:Regions of France Category:Departments of France Category:States and territories established in 1946 af:Frans-Guyana ar:جويانا الفرنسية an:Guayana Franzesa roa-rup:Guayana gallicã frp:Guyana francêsa ast:Guayana Francesa az:Fransa Qvianası zh-min-nan:Guyane be-x-old:Француская Ґвіяна bs:Francuska Gvajana br:Gwiana c'hall bg:Френска Гвиана ca:Guaiana Francesa ceb:Guyane cs:Francouzská Guyana cy:Guyane da:Fransk Guyana de:Französisch-Guayana dv:ފަރަންސޭސި ގީނާ dsb:Francojska Guyana et:Prantsuse Guajaana el:Γαλλική Γουιάνα es:Guayana Francesa eo:Franca Gvajanio eu:Frantziar Guyana fa:گویان فرانسه fr:Guyane fy:Frânsk Guyana ga:Guáin na Fraince gd:Guiana Fhrangach gl:Güiana Francesa - Guyane française ko:프랑스령 기아나 hr:Francuska Gvajana bpy:ফ্যাঞ্চ গায়ানা id:Guyana Perancis is:Franska Gvæjana it:Guyana francese he:גיאנה הצרפתית jv:Guyana Prancis kw:Gwayana Frynkek sw:Guyana ya Kifaransa ht:Giyàn franse ku:Guayanaya Fransî la:Guiana Francica lv:Franču Gviāna lb:Guyane lt:Prancūzijos Gviana lij:Guayana Françèise lmo:Gujana Francesa hu:Francia Guyana mk:Француска Гвајана ml:ഫ്രഞ്ച് ഗയാന ms:Guiana Perancis nl:Frans-Guyana ja:フランス領ギアナ no:Fransk Guyana nn:Fransk Guyana nov:Fransi Giyana oc:Guaiana pms:Gujan-a Fransèisa nds:Franzöösch-Guayana pl:Gujana Francuska pt:Guiana Francesa ro:Guiana Franceză ru:Французская Гвиана sah:Француз Гуианата se:Frankriikka Guayana sm:Farani Guiana sq:Guiana Franceze scn:Guyana francisi simple:French Guiana sk:Francúzska Guyana sl:Francoska Gvajana sr:Француска Гвајана sh:Francuska Gvajana fi:Ranskan Guayana sv:Franska Guyana ta:பிரெஞ்சு கயானா th:เฟรนช์เกียนา tr:Fransız Guyanası uk:Французька Гвіана ug:Fransiyige Qarashliq Gwiana vec:Guyana franséxe vi:Guyane thuộc Pháp war:Guyane wo:Guyaana gu Faraas wuu:法属渠亚娜 zea:Frans Huyana bat-smg:Prancūzėjės Gviana zh:法屬圭亞那